UFC
UFC announces return of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Bellator says Jackson still under contract
Dec 20, 2014 - 9:55:09 PM UFC announces return of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Bellator says Jackson still under contract

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is on his way back to the UFC.

The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion's return was announced on Saturday during the Fox Sports 1 broadcast of UFC Fight Night 58. The announcement was teased early in the broadcast, and then delivered with a video package featuring Jackson saying this is where he belongs.

However, the situation will be quite interesting moving forward, as Jackson remains "100-percent under contract" to Bellator, per a report from Sherdog.com. According to Bleacher Report's Jeremy Botter, Jackson believes Bellator has breached their deal with him, opening the door for this return.

Jackson is claiming Bellator is in breach of contract. UFC is blocking Bellator from using him. This one is going to the courts. Get ready.

— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) December 21, 2014

He comes back despite some very bad blood upon his exit in early 2013. He had a lot of negative things to say about the UFC when he signed with Bellator, but after three wins in the organization, the man who made a number of promises to him - Bjorn Rebney - was ousted by Viacom. That shift in power has had Jackson publicly upset with his status, and so he will attempt to return to the Octagon.

This is almost certainly going to be fought by Viacom, so despite the announcement, don't expect him to necessarily fight in the UFC again for a while.

Penick's Analysis: This says a lot about how unrealistic Jackson was upon his 2013 exit with the way the UFC had allegedly treated him, but it also says something about the UFC's desperate need for needle movers into 2015. Jackson's past his prime, certainly, but he brings an audience. Now, this is a really poorly timed move on the UFC's part given the anti-trust suit that was just levied against them this week, especially if Viacom has a solid case that the contract is valid. Of course, if there's a valid reason to suggest they've breached it, the UFC's lawyers will be fighting for that in court.